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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25485145">wound closure</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_IPRE/pseuds/The_IPRE'>The_IPRE</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Archive 81 (Podcast)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Stitches, conversations about your life becoming a fantastical quest, the inherent romanticism of tending to someones wounds</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 02:22:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,079</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25485145</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_IPRE/pseuds/The_IPRE</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Despite all of the talks about quests and the oddities of the world, it still felt like real life. Not technicolor, not just brilliant flickering montages, but also all of those moments in between. It was a lot, especially for someone who was good at remaining detached.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>wound closure</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Didn't want to tag it as Lou/Chris because at this moment Chris is in the Box That Shit Up phase but. :eyes:</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Hey, will you just- hold still!” Chris put an arm on Lou’s shoulder, not close enough to the injury to have him wincing but still heavy enough to keep him from leaving and fucking up his arm before he’d even been stitched up. </p><p>Lou sat back, all protest moved to the arch of a single eyebrow. “Come on, Christine, it’s not that bad. Look, I’ll be fine-“</p><p>“Yeah, well, Teddy’s gonna be pissed if you go up on deck and bleed all over <em> The Irons</em>, which you definitely will if you don’t let me help, so.” Chris wiped down her needle with the closest thing this world had to hydrogen peroxide, threaded it. The ritual had become familiar over the year that she had been living on the ship, foggy memories from a first aid course helped along by the veritable library that Vic had left behind. “Besides, you’re the one who gave me this job, <em> Captain</em>. Gotta listen to the doctor’s orders, or whatever.”</p><p>“Ah- you do have a point there,” Lou said, easing back into the wooden chair he was sitting in, and Chris could have sworn that she saw a flush on his cheeks from the title, tanned skin getting darker under the freckles. He let his head fall back to rest against the wall, though, purposefully not looking at Chris or where she was about to stitch him back together. Golden afternoon sunlight came in through the window, outlining his profile and catching in his long hair, half fallen out of the bun that he usually kept it tied in.</p><p>He looked every bit the dramatic pirate in that moment, disheveled and lightly bloodied, the kind who would probably star in any number of shitty romance novels.</p><p>Chris put that thought away and started to stitch him up, catching the way he winced out of the corner of her eye. Waves lapped against the hull of the ship outside and <em> The Irons </em> breathed around them, and if she listened Chris was pretty sure that she could hear the string music that had followed her ever since she fell asleep on the floor of Ms. Roland’s. </p><p>Chris had had enough of that music floating at the edge of her consciousness, waiting to pull her back down. “Any reason you were so antsy to get out of here?” </p><p>Lou’s eyes were still closed, eyelashes catching the sunlight, but his lips pursed at the question. His free arm came up in a half-shrug, mulling the question over as Chris tied off the first stitch. “Well, this life of adventure, discovery, and the like, it’s- <em> ah </em>.” Lou sucked in a breath between his teeth as Chris held the wound together and pierced through the second stitch. “You never really factor in the injuries, the low moments. I know that I didn't, not when I was agreeing to stay here.”</p><p>“Upset this didn’t turn out to be the grand fantasy quest you were looking forward to?” Lou opened his eyes at that, looked over with a smile pulling at one side of his mouth. Not the grand one he wore at the prow, valiant captain and explorer. A smaller smile, held for just this moment, just the two of them.</p><p>“Well, it never really does, does it? Turn out how you expect it to, that is.” Lou flexed his fingers, subconsciously searching for the proper words. “The quiet moments are lovely, don’t get me wrong, but. Well, it’s easier to keep running, isn’t it?”</p><p>Chris hummed as she continued to stitch him up, just a single thinking note. “I’ve got a deadline here, six years, ambergris, then it’s all over.” She didn’t spend any thought to the way that thought already made her stomach twist, the way Lou glanced away. She would have five years left to process her shit, no need to unpack it all in one afternoon. “It’s easy to keep running when you’ve only got so long.”</p><p>Lou was quiet as Chris tied off the stitch, started a new one. “Six years is still a decent amount, Christine. Living takes up time.”</p><p>“Oh, yeah, no, don’t get me wrong, I love it here, glad that this is where my fantasy bullshit took me. Honestly, more than I thought I would be. Finally feel alive, and all that crap. Existing in the current moment. Not having to pay rent.” Lou huffed out a laugh at that, and Chris grinned up at him. “I honestly didn’t expect for it to feel this- okay, ‘freeing’ makes me sound like I’m recording a vlog on my gap year, but it <em> is </em> accurate.”</p><p>The gleam in Lou’s eye didn’t dim when Chris started on his final stitch. “Still feels like a bit of a fantasy quest, huh?”</p><p>“Oh yeah. My life’s an adventure. Getting shot at, helping my friends when <em>they</em> get shot at, just what I always dreamed of.” Chris tied off the final stitch, looked over them with a critical eye. After all this time, yeah, sure, she was proud of herself. Slotting into the crew like a missing piece, patching people up and knowing that she would get picked up if she fell, it felt good. </p><p>Despite all of the talks about quests and the oddities of the world, it still felt like real life. Not technicolor, not just brilliant flickering montages, but also all of those moments in between. It was a lot, especially for someone who was good at remaining detached.</p><p>There was a feeling building in her gut, the one that had convinced her to switch majors and shave her head and do anything to make sure that things weren’t taken away from her before she could choose to let go of them. Chris could understand why someone would want to keep moving.</p><p>“Looks good,” Lou said, twisting to see the row of stitches cutting down his bicep, likely to fade away into just another scar. Real, even after everything.</p><p>“Yeah, well, next time you get stabbed, maybe come to me to get it fixed up instead of making me drag you down here myself. Pretty sure that infections still exist here, and those are <em> not </em> fun.” </p><p>“You would be right in that.” Lou stood, tested the mobility of his arm. As he went to leave, he paused, one hand on the doorframe. “Thank you, Christine.”</p><p>Lou left, and Chris did not think about how much she liked the sound of her name in his mouth.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Feel free to leave a comment or kudos, or come talk to me on tumblr at <a href="https://the-ipre.tumblr.com">the-ipre</a>!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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